Draft attachment for railway-cars.



8. w. KADEL, 'L'A. PILCHEH, R. H. PERSINGERAND H. w. REYN0L6s.- DRAFT ATTACHMENTFOR RAILWAY CARS. APPLICATION FILED NOV. ML l9l4.

LBQEAEG; Patented Dec. 16,1919

UNITED STATES PATENT ()FFIOE.

I BYERS W. KADEL, JOHN A. PILGHER, ROBERT H. PERSINGER, AND H.

REYNOLDS, F ROANOKE, VIRGINIA.

WALLA DRAFT ATTACHMENT FOR RAILWAY-CABS.

Specificatiofiof Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 16, 1919.

, provements in Draft Attachments for Railway-Cars, of which the following is. a speci- This invention relates to draft appliances for railway cars and its object is to provide a improvement in the draft or coupler yoke as will be herein set forth, and it consists in the formation, combination and arrange- -ment of elements as will be herein described andclaimed.

H In the accompanying drawings Figure 1. is'ajpartial vertical, longitudinal section of a 'car having our improvements thereon,

" and Fig. 2 is a plan view, partly in section of the same. Fig. 3 is a horizontal sectional View through the back end of thecoupler yoke, takd on the line AB, Fi 1. Fig.

l is a'br ken side elevational vlew of a v y between thedraft gear and the back stop slightly altered form of coupler yoke.

' ing and connectin of bolts or iii Referrin now to these drawings 1 represents the center sills of acar, 2 the end sill, and ,3 the coilplei" striking plate. The c0 pler 4C is supported by a customary carry iroh 5 and is disposed between. the center SlllS Our invention is especially intended .fo" use with those forms of coupler yokes whicl l consist of E l-shaped straps of metal between the center sills, the open end of the U engag-l with the butt end 6 of the coupler 4:. This shaped strap or yoke 7 is customarily riveted or keyed to .the butt end of the coupler, or has sliding engagement therewith. In the device as we use it, t is necessary that the coupler be slidably' attached to the yoke i, and to perform this and at the same time form a secure fastening the open; of t to U are provided with the customa ry lugs 8 adapted to position in front of the en" rtion of the butt end of the coupler engaged thereby in pulling. linibrac? ends of the U is a solid ring or th" rich is secured at the top and the hott the legs of the U by means c if The coupler has slid-' able engagement with the yoke 7 1n buffing and the thimble ll prevents the legs of the v p 8 in pulling.

11' opening when the coupler engages Within the opening of the coupler yoke and disposed immediately behind the butt end of the coupler is the customary front follower plate 11 which forms a beam between the two center sills, resting against the follower stops 12. The draft gear 131s likewise inserted in the opening of the coupler yoke in the customary manner, between the front and rear follower plates.

The rear follower plate 14, however, is made rigid with the curved back end of the yoke 7, it-being shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 3, as being formed of two parts, the front portion 15 having a flat face at its frontto accommodate the face of the draft gear. The rear portion 16-of this follower has a flat face at its back which corresponds with a similar face on a backstop 17, .this back stop beingdisposed between the center sills of the car.

The two portions of the rear follower 14 are secured to other and to the rear end ofthe coupler yo e by any suitable means such as the rivet 1'8. I

The rear follower thus forms a solid block when buffing and is not at this time subject to any bending stresses, but to pure compression only. To those familiar with car construction the advantages of this construction will appear, as the absence of the customary rear follower stops and the use instead of our heavy back stop will prevent the, hueklingof the pills that now takes place under severe bufiing.

A the same, time, the rear follower plate not being called on to function as a beam be tween the 'customary-rear follower stops it may be made much lightergas there will be no bendin stresses to take care of.

It will e'evident that we require sliding engagement of the coupler and coupler yoke in bufling as at this time the coupler simply slides back in the yoke, which remains stationary, the rearend of said yoke serving as beforestated, as a dead block or compression member.

In pulling, our device operates in the identical manner as the present well known devices of'this character, the front follower abutting the stops 12. and forming a beam between the sills, the draft gear being com- Pressed between the plates.

"it will be evident that varpous .lower and embracing said forms of attachment ofthe coupler yoke to the coupler might be. used and also that the rear follower plate might be made in a variety of forms,

In Fig. 4 we show an alternate form of this rear follower, the same being here made of a single piece and the metal of the coupler yoke itself serving to abut the back stop 17, which is made with a curved face to accommodate the curved end of the yoke.

In addition to the advantages already enumerated our device as described forms a most sturdy and rugged construction with a minimum number of parts and particularly a minimum number of moving parts. It may be assembled as a single unit and placed on old cars or new, many of the standard parts as now used being retained, and but slight alterations being requiredto old equipment in order to use our new de vice. It may also be used with all of the )I'OSCllt Master Car Builders standard coi1- plers. Having thus described our invention, what we claim 15:

1. In a draft rigging for railway ears, the combination with a vertically arranged yoke, of a coupler slidably connected thereto,

a centrally arranged stop adapted to hold the yoke from rearward movement, a draft gear within thesaid yoke, a follower for said gear, and means connected to said folyoke and adapted to form a compression member between said follower and the stop on the inward movement of the coupler from normal.

In a draft rigging for railway cars, the combination with a pair of spaced draft sills, of a coupler, a vertically arranged yoke, means for connecting said coupler and yoke combination with and cushioning means, of a follower for the .tures in presence of two witnesses.

and adapted to permit relative movement therebetween, a draft gear within the said yoke, followers for the same, vertically arranged stops connected to the said sills and coacting with one of 'the'said followers, 2. back stop bridging the space between the said sills, and means connected to the other follower and adapted to normally contact with the forward face of the back stop.

3. In a draft rigging for railway cars, the vertically arranged yoke said cushioning means, said follower contacting with the rear inner face of the said yoke, and means connectedto the said-follower and inclosing said yoke and adapted to prevent relative movement between the.

said yoke and the said follower.

at. In a draft rigging for railway 'cars,'the combination with the draft sills, of' a yoke, means connected to the sills and bridging the space between the same and adapted to hold the yoke from rearward movement, a draft gear, a two-part follower, one part whereof is adapted to contact withthe said gear, the other part of the said follower being adapted to embrace the yoke and to contact. with the aforesaid means, and means for connecting the parts of the said follower.

In testimony whereof We afiix our signasrnne W. KADEL.

JOHN A. PILOHER. ROBERT H. PERS-INGER.

Witnesses B. .B. KORTE, a A. K. Snsgrrons.

H. WALLACE REYNOLDS. 

